The Ritual of Everyday Life: Hindu Women’s Rituals, Mujerista Theology, and the Catholic Theology of Gender

Abstract

While the Catholic theology of gender places great emphasis on the gendered body, it tends to be overly abstract and simplistic. A more realistic theology of gender must be centered on actual women in the midst of their lives. This essay reflects on what a Catholic theology of gender can learn from Hindu women’s everyday rituals—which transform women’s bodies and channel power ritually through women to their families and society—in conversation with mujerista theology (Latina and Hispanic women’s theology). Ultimately, Tiemeier aims to reconstruct a broader ritual theology that decenters the male hierarchy, recenters the sacred on the gendered body engaged in the world, and expands the Catholic sacramental imagination into the ritual of everyday life.

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